Portal:Current events/2007 August 19

• At least two people die and another three are missing after the remains of Tropical Storm Erin hit Oklahoma. (Reuters via New Zealand Herald)
• Rescue workers start pumping water from a flooded coal mine in Xintai, Shandong where 172 Chinese miners are trapped. (CNN)
• The Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty declares a state of emergency in six Minnesota counties as a result of flooding. (AP via West Central Tribune)
• A week long heatwave in the southeast and midwest of the United States has caused the deaths of 49 with 12 deaths in Memphis, Tennessee. (AP via Fox News)
• The Philippines army captures an Abu Sayyaf base on the island of Basilan following a heavy struggle with at least 35 soldiers and militants killed in the battle. (Reuters via Canada.com)
• Kazakhstani legislative election, 2007: President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party wins 88 per cent of the vote in yesterday's election and will be the only party represented in the Majilis or Kazakh parliament. (ABC News Australia) (AAP via News Limited)
• Typhoon Sepat spawns a tornado that kills nine people in Zhejiang Province, China. More than a million people have been evacuated as a result of the typhoon. (Reuters via CNN)
• Jamaica prepares for Hurricane Dean with the hurricane already responsible for at least eight deaths on Carribbean islandsSt. Lucia, Martinique and Dominica. It is expected to hit the Cayman Islands on Monday and the Yucatan peninsula on Tuesday with further impact on Mexico or Texas later in the week. (CTV) (AP via Forbes)
• Voters in Thailand go to the polls for a referendum to decide whether to accept or reject a new constitution. (BBC)
• A German woman taken hostage yesterday in Kabul, Afghanistan is found during a police raid on a house. Multiple abductors arrested. (BBC)

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